Than gasoline or diesel? No, they don't. Wikipedia has a large chart on their article for energy density of various sources. Some things are harder to directly compare with each other, but diesel has 38 MJ/L, with jet fuel/kerosene and gasoline at 36/35. Adding ethanol dilutes the energy output some, while pure ethanol is 24. It's still a potent source (but with its own costs and effects that need to be included in the net equation). Chemically petroleum simply has more bonds to break and get energy from.
Comment on why is fossil fuel still used?
Limonene@lemmy.world 2 months agoRenewable liquid fuels have the same energy density.
Rhaedas@fedia.io 2 months ago
tate@lemmy.sdf.org 2 months ago
Biodiesel is a renewable liquid fuel.
Rhaedas@fedia.io 2 months ago
Yes, it's on the list too at 33 MJ/L. Lower than conventional, but still higher than ethanol. The usual mix for drop in use with typical diesel engines is 10% bio/90% conventional. It's a good use of recycled material vs. just disposal.
MantisToboggon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Like what?
db2@lemmy.world 2 months ago
But a higher cost to produce at volume.
If you mean corn ethanol it doesn’t have the same kick.
We should just make everyone use hydrazine and let nature do its thing. 😆
Limonene@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Corn ethanol isn’t really renewable either. It works better if made from sugarcane, but it’s still a big food-vs-fuel problem.
deafboy@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Removing a bunch of corn syrup from our diet can’t hurt us.